Summoner: The Book of Dimension

45 Meets The Adventurous

Peter looked out the window the moment he left his bed. It was dark already when he woke up from what was supposed to be a visit to the dream space.

He looked at his wristwatch and saw that it was 8 pm. The darkness in the window of the house beside him was illuminated with light. He couldn’t see what was in there since it was covered with blinds. He wondered if the woman was there, so he waited for her to peek by the window.

But she didn’t.

He decided to just go back to his writing station and write the contents of his dream that he could use for his books. The riding moment he had when looking for the woman could be used for another book, as well as the action moment he had when he went to the tall building.

The fight scene with a lot of men, he could use it for a scene with mafias. He had the idea of making another book from the last one he just finished. It could be a good idea fora sequel. He knew his readers would love that.

He decided to call his editor. It took her two rings to answer the phone. “Yellow?” the editor answered the phone playfully.

“Yes, uh. I’m thinking of making a sequel after the last book. Do you think the director will allow me?” he asked.

He heard a gasp. “Yes, of course! He’d love to hear that. Are you sure, by the way? You’re opposed to sequels before,” she said.

Peter hummed. Well, she was right. He wanted to do every book differently to challenge himself for different things and genres. But sequel of the last book he had would be a great experience for him as well. He wanted to distract himself from the book since there was never a day all the memories of it bothered him.

He looked at the closet. Now that we’re mentioning that, he had never heard the whispers again. He hoped it would continue.

“Well, I think it’s a great idea. It’s also showing my fans and readers that I can do sequels, too,” he said and sighed. “Please tell the director for me tomorrow. If he approves, I’ll work it out.”

“Yeah, sure thing,” she said.

Peter smiled a little. “Thanks. If he ever approves, I’ll send you the plot when I come up with anything,” he said.

“Okay. Take your time. You don’t have to rush. You just finished a book today, remember?” she reminded him.

He chuckled. “You’re right.”

“Oh, by the way. There’s this new Japanese restaurant near my compound, and I’m planning to drop off at my friend tomorrow, she’s living in your village, by the way. If you want, I’ll come to your house tomorrow, too. They serve this good takoyaki balls. You said you’re a fan of Japanese foods,” she said and he heard rustles of papers on the other line.

Peter blinked a few times. “You mean, those with an octopus on it?”

“Yep,” she said.

He remembered the moment he had with the octopus and chuckled nervously. “I’ll pass this time. Besides, I won’t be around tomorrow. I’ll go visit a library for research.”

“Ah, I see. Okay. Do you have any other concerns? I’m actually looking at your work,” she said and he heard more rustlings of papers.

“Nope,” he said. “Pulling an all-nighter?” he asked.

“Might be,” she only said.

Peter sighed. “Okay. I’ll leave you be. Let me know if I missed something in there,”

“Yep,” she said dragging the letter “p” and then ended the call.

He placed the phone facing down on his table. The takoyaki balls made him shiver a little. That octopus monster made him scared shitless. He might not want to go back to sleep, not now that the squid monster could still be at the dream space.

He had been sleeping since lunch, so he had enough sleep for him to stay all night. Or maybe he’ll sleep after a few hours passed.

The squid monster continued to bother him for some time until he finally decided to write down the details about the octopus monster. The rumors about them were true, but he wanted to know how do people from the dream kingdom repel them. They said no one had ever killed a squid monster, but all those years, decades, and centuries ever since they existed, no one had ever killed one.

Or at least even nearly did.

He licked his drying lips. “...fire burns the skin,” he listed and bit the pen cap. “Might work but it heals back easily,” he said as he scribbled.

He’d have to go to the dream kingdom to know more about them, so he reminded himself to go there some time. He then remembered the lightning he did. “Lightning strike can make them fall asleep, and when asleep, they take time to heal.,”

He continued to add more everything that he remembered and stayed up until he could.

He never realized that he reached until sunrise. His room was illuminated by the light from outside and when he checked the time from his wristwatch, it was past six in the morning. Well, that was a personal record. He never stayed until that late. Last time he checked, he never woke up later than five in the morning.

His table was filled with empty packets of snacks and cups of instant noodles. Sighing, he stood up and took a plastic bag where he started filling the trash. The whole white plastic bag was half-filled with his trash only.

“Damn, am I eating unhealthy these days? Yes, yes, I do,” he talked to himself as he started tidying up his room. He had a plan to go outside for a good breakfast meal.

He washed his face and brush his teeth before he picked up new clean clothes.

He fetched his wallet from the bedside table and with a hum, he ran down the stairs. When he reached the front door, he heard giggles from outside. Wondering, he opened the front door and peeked, but never found anyone by his front door. He stepped out of the porch and he saw beside his house the woman from the dream.

She was with three more girls, and they were by the front yard, assembled in a circular table with food in there. He could see the back of her, but she recognized her.

They were laughing about something when her friend noticed him staring at them, her friend placed her coffee cup down and nudged her by the arm, pointing at Peter and muttering something to her. Their laughter halted, and the woman turned her head to see what was going on.

The woman was surprised he just stared back at Peter, her eyebrows creasing. He seemed to recognize Peter but she couldn’t remember.

She stood up and the three other girls muttered their “Ooh”s, teasing her. “She’s going for it,” he heard one of them said.

There was a fence that separated his house from hers. She went there and held the fence, greeting Peter with a smile.

Peter smiled back and walked toward her. “Hey,” he greeted.

“Hey,” she greeted back, shyly waving. “Having some breakfast with the girls. Wanna join us?” she casually and naturally said as if she knew him.

“Join us! Dora prepared quite a lot for breakfast,” one of them said. Peter looked at her and smiled.

So her name was Dora, he thought. “Sure. I’m actually on my way downtown to catch some breakfast. Can I really join you guys?” he asked.

The three girls squealed and mumbled how friendly Peter was, commenting he looked so handsome.

“Yeah, please join us,” Dora said and watched him walk around and walked into her premise.

He took a stranded chair a few feet from the table and sat beside Dora. “I’ve never seen you before,” he started, looking into her eyes.

One of them chuckled. “Of course, she barely even get out of her shell. Such a snail,” she rolled her eyes and offered her hand for Peter to shake. “By the way, the name’s Lily,” she introduced.

“It’s Peter,” he shook Lily’s hand. “Peter Cohen.”

One of them gasped. “His name’s Peter? Peter Parker from Spiderman?”

Peter chuckled. “No, it’s Peter Cohen,” he said.

Dora interrupted, “Yeah. Bianca just means about conjoining my surname with your name. She’s an avid Spiderman fan. My name’s Dorothy Parker, by the way. My friends call me Dora.”

He nodded in understanding. “So, Dora...can I call you that, or...?” he trailed, waiting for her answer.

“Ah, call me however you want. I prefer something shorter,” she said.

He nodded. “Dora, it is, then. So, Dora, Lily, Bianca, and...?” he gestured at the fourth woman who seemed to be silent and calm.

She smiled. “It’s Lana,” she said.

“You’re the famous writer, right?” Dorothy asked. Peter turned to her and she just realized she was prettier than she was on her dream.

He cleared his throat when he realized he was staring at her for quite a while. “Yeah, but I humbly call myself a passionate writer than famous,” he said.

The four ladies nodded and chuckled. “Don’t you...” Peter started which gained their attention. “...remember me, Dora?”